Greensboro Project Part 2 - Bank Maps

A First Citizens Bank‎
4635 W Market St, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 412-4068‎
B First Citizens Bank‎
4708 High Point Rd, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 412-4070‎
C First Citizens Bank‎
1132 N Church St # 100, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 412-4040‎
D First Citizens Bank‎
1220 Bridford Pkwy, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 412-4085‎
E First Citizens Bank‎
100 S Elm St # 100, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 412-4000‎
F First Citizens Bank‎
3600 N Elm St, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 412-4047‎
G First Citizens Bank‎
3200 Randleman Rd, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 412-4080‎
H First Citizens Bank‎
620 Green Valley Rd # 100, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 412-4059‎
I First Citizens Bank‎
1509 Highwoods Blvd, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 412-4220‎
J First Citizens Bank‎
Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 412-4184‎


116 Results near Greensboro, NC. 176,577 Total.

A BB&T‎
2274 Vanstory St, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 433-4170‎
B BB&T‎
606 College Rd, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 433-4150‎
C BB&T‎
101 S Elm St, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 574-4566‎
D BB&T‎
915 E Bessemer Ave, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 433-4210‎
E BB&T‎
4541 W Market St, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 433-4280‎
F BB&T‎
4025 Premier Dr, High Point, NC‎ - (336) 888-0221‎
G BB&T: Sales Finance‎
101 S Elm St, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 433-4860‎
H BB&T‎
2835 Randleman Rd, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 433-4230‎
I BB&T‎
201 W Market St # 100, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 433-4001‎
Place closed
J BB&T‎
120 W Main St, Jamestown, NC‎ - (336) 888-0260‎


108 results near Greensboro, NC. 7,598 Total.

A Bank of America: Mortgages‎
629 Green Valley Rd, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 805-3870‎
B Bank of America‎
101 W Friendly Ave, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 805-3669‎
C Bank of America‎
2105 Pinecroft Rd, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 805-3745‎
D Bank of America‎
1616 E Bessemer Ave, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 805-3050‎
E Bank of America‎
107 Muirs Chapel Rd, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 805-3113‎
F Bank of America‎
3303 Battleground Ave, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 805-3150‎
G Bank of America‎
1500 S Elm Eugene St, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 805-3080‎
H Bank of America Home Loans‎
701 Green Valley Rd # 101, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 574-7081‎
I Bank of America‎
435 Pisgah Church Rd, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 805-5311‎
J Bank of America‎
700 College Rd, Greensboro, NC‎ - (336) 805-3373‎


346 Results near Greensboro, NC. 193,785 Total.

All maps and statistics generated by Google Maps.

Greensboro Project Part 3 - Speculation

Since the First Citizens Bank building is right in the middle of town, and it seems fairly evident that the building was originally constructed for that bank, it probably was important to the beginnings of the city. The building itself has a strong presence on that corner, and is very hard to miss. The fact that it managed to claim and save a spot right in the middle of everything leads me to believe that it was a reliable business and was able to stay in business as the city grew up around it, instead of being closed due to other competition moving in later. Although this is just one branch of a large chain of Citizens banks, which are located mainly in the southeast as well as a few on the west coast of America, this particular branch looks specifically designed for the location, instead of an average bank building found anywhere else in America.


The BB&T branch in town was a fairly generic looking branch, especially on the inside. The BB&T banks are a regional chain in the southeast section of the US. They seem to be very prevalent in the south, and it is not surprising that there is one located near the center of the city. The branch was clean, but crowded and working at a quick pace. These banks seem to be very popular, which would make them less oriented towards getting to know specific customers. There was along area to wait in line and everything seemed to be based on a fast and efficient system, instead of a calm relaxed environment. This bank did not seem to be catering specifically to the Greensboro location, but rather just filling the role of any other branch in the chain as a part of southern banking.



While Bank of America is the largest banking system out of the three, it was not nearly as generic of a branch as the BB&T. The inside of the building was very unique, and designed to make customers feel relaxed and at home. The outside of the building had large glass windows that are not on a flat surface. this leads me to believe that this may not have been the original purpose of the building, and that it was probably converted from some other previous occupant. The bank is very close to the center of town though, which may mean that it was an important bank that managed to make it into a prime spot in town due to popularity. This bank would be useful to connect people's money across the nation and overseas. While First Citizens bank is fairly large, there is a large concentration in North and South Carolina in particular. Bank of America has slightly more branches and is more evenly spread out across the country.


All maps generated by Google Maps.

My Education, My Plan: getting from here to there

I intend to study at UNCG for all four years of my undergraduate degree. Freshman year will be mainly general education business courses, as it has been this semester. Spring 2010 is also mainly general business prerequisites. I am taking a somewhat heavy course load with 17 and 18 credit hours freshman year. As long as I van handle the work load I will be taking as many credit hours as possible per semester since I did not have any prior to college. Sophomore year I plan to take the two semesters of Spanish that I am required for a business degree. I also plan on starting biology in order to get a minor in biology by the time I graduate. These fields of study will be helpful to me in the area of business I wish to pursue. During the first few years I hope to get as far ahead as possible so that I can travel Junior year. I am considering a study abroad semester in the fall of 2011 in Argentina. I figure that South America would be a good place to go because I do not have any other means to get there than through school, and it would work well with the Spanish language classes that I have taken since middle school.

After my study abroad session I plan on taking a little time off to travel while I am still in college and before I have to get a real job. If I work hard enough beforehand and maybe take a few summer classes I'm hoping that I can manage to graduate on time even with taking a full semester off from UNCG. I would like to go spend some time working and riding in New Zealand. I few of my friends have done it already and said it was an amazing experience, and they can set me up with the same sort of situation they had. This seems like the best time to travel, because after graduation I will be expected to get a full time job and start supporting myself even more than I do already.

After returning from my worldly travels I expect to come back to UNCG to finish my degree by completing whichever courses are necessary to get the correct amount of credit hours to graduate. These will probably be mainly business courses that are more major-specific, as well as a few last biology courses to help me achieve that minor. Whether this takes two or three semesters does not really matter to me, as long as I can manage a degree in the area I wish to enter the job market - business administration. As long as I remain diligent in my work habits and stick to some sort of plan, this should work out the way I'd like it to.

I do not plan to attend any education after college, but would rather jump straight into the job market and try to start earning some money. After college my living expenses will increase, so I will need to find a more reliable source of income than I have now. I have travelled a lot already and have begun to grasp a fairly accurate view of the world, at least I think I have. My past experiences have already made me fairly well equipped to navigate the world around me, even when in an unfamiliar setting. My college education is meant to refine my business skills and ability to direct others. This education will hopefully help me get a job, and later develop a reasonable career.

Can Images Still Move Us?

This "Food for Thought" session discussed the lessened power in today's society, especially with our youth. A large eye-opener is that today we can view even real images of apocalyptic scenes and be completely unaffected, and expect them to be fake, whereas when moving pictures were first introduced people were afraid of a moving train. Today there is so much technology to create horrific scenes that everyone has become fairly desensitized to them, whether they are real or fake. The speaker put up many images on the overhead projector to try to see which ones caused an emotional change to people in the room. As different people discussed which ones had affected them the most, they all seemed to have a different image in mind. In some cases it was an image that I was completely unaffected by, but I guess the reactions the images cause maybe differ depending on one's own past experiences.

The majority of the scenes shown were of some destructive force. There were real images of a flooded town in Louisiana following Katrina and September 11, 2001. There were also many pictures of art or computer generated images like the apocalypse from that painter's perspective, Paris under water, and buildings falling in 2012. These images all brought out differing reactions, although did not seem to move us very much. What affected people more was when the possibility of destruction was demonstrated to them in real life. There were projects done in New York where dots were put on trees showed where the water level could be, which was well up over peoples' heads. There was also a project done in which lines were drawn along the streets showing where the new shoreline would be if there was major flooding. It was also very interesting to see what Brooklyn would have looked like if it had never been settled, and how much humans had changed the geological features of what land forms used to be there. This was probably the most interesting section on the discussion to me, because instead of purely fictional, like what is shown in the movies, I could actually see what would happen to real places if massive flooding occurred.

Sonia Nazario lecture

I attended the 3pm session on Sonia Nazario's discussion about her book Enrique's Journey. As much as I was expecting to learn something new about Enrique's trip or the author's own travels to write the book, I didn't seem to hear anything I hadn't already heard before. The main part of the discussion was merely an expanded repetition of the book's prologue, which of course every student in the room had already read for class. They displayed pictures of people she had met, other migrants, and Enrique and his family. Of course they were all very nice to see blown up large, but were mainly the same pictures that were in the center sections of our novels.

As opposed to really being a discussion about the main subject of the book, the relationship between mothers and children, and the sacrifices theses mothers have to make, it really just seemed like a pro-migrant speech to me. Sonia seems to want to make laws easier on illegal immigrants and to keep the police from being in contact with immigration officials. This was a bit upsetting to me since I have very different opinions on this topic, and do not wish to have someone attempt to sway my opinions when they are supposed to be discussing a novel. At the end there was a question and answer session in which some interesting questions were raised, but that was the only part that I heard anything new.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Saturday, November 14th, 2009 I went to see the college-run production of the play "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." It was somewhat different, I believe, than the movie. Having not read the book, I cannot really compare it to that. The actors were all very well-rehearsed and put on a great production. Some scenes were given a slightly comical edge and the characters themselves could be quite funny. The costumes were great, especially Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. In comparison to the few high school theatre productions I have seen, it was very well done and very organized. The sets were great, with an amazing wardrobe that the actors could travel through.

The plot is about 4 children who find another world by travelling through the back of the wardrobe when they are bored. They find a winter wonderland with mythical creatures and a feud between an evil witch and a great lion over control of the land of Narnia. The Witch sought to gain control of one child, Edmund, in order to capture the other 3, Peter, Susan, and Lucy. If she could turn them all to stone then they would not be able to fulfill the prophecy and she could retain control over Narnia forever. She was the reason that "it was always winter, but never Christmas!" The lion traded his life in sacrifice in order to return Edmund to his siblings. Magic allowed him to return to life since he sacrificed himself but had done no wrong. Afterwards the children help fight against the Witch and her followers to help out the lion and fulfill the prophecy. They rule Narnia until they decide it is finally time to return home to their real lives.

Architecture of Happiness

This week's "Food for Thought" session was led by Dr. Patrick Lucas. He discussed how buildings can be either happy or unhappy. Buildings' happiness can generally be decided by three broad ideas; commodity, firmness, and delight. Commodity is how well a building suits its purpose. Some buildings are not laid out very well for the purpose they are meant to serve. The Bryan building is not very commodious because it can be like a maze to navigate through, especially on the upper floors, and every corner seems to look the same. Firmness is how well built the structure is. Many of the buildings on campus are very structurally sound, as can be seen by the styles of some them, that they are very old and still quite safe to be used. Some other structures have had issues with incorrect construction, and have had to be repaired to keep them safe enough to be used. Delight is whether the building allows the person using it to be happy while in its presence.

Delight in itself has such a broad definition that it is hard to determine whether or not it can be said about a specific building, as it is up to the interpretation of the user. A building may be delightful to one person, and not at all so to another. Some may view Moore Strong Residence hall as being like a jail because of the cinder block walls and similar looking hallways, but to others it may be somewhat delightful because it is their home and also the home of many of their friends. Patrick showed us how everyone can have a completely different definition of delight by having everyone choose a picture that made us happy from a collection that he brought. Every person had a different image, and also had a unique reason as to why that image made them happy. These different reasons for happiness also come into effect when people are deciding if architecture is indeed happy or not.